The discussion took place at an event titled Footprint+, which was held in Brighton last week (7 – 9 June). It was centred around the transition towards net zero in the property market.
Chaired by Rachael Mills from a consultancy company SE2, a panel discussion brought together Mike Reynolds, managing director of Vattenfall UK, Councillor Nicolla Beech from Bristol city council and Ken Hunnisett from investment company Triple Point.
The group explored the topics of the anticipated energy regulation, viability of private investment and environmental and social benefits of district heating.
Expansion
There are currently 14,000 heat networks across the UK, producing 2% of the heat in the country. With the mandated transition towards net zero, this is expected to increase 9-fold by 2050, according to Rachael Mills. “We are on the cusp of regulation, with Ofgem set to be the regulator for heat from 2024,” she added.
Highlighting the community value of heat networks, Cllr Beech from Bristol city council said: “This is about supporting people over the next decade through the impact of rising energy prices.”
Mike Reynolds, managing director of Vattenfall UK, added that they also help shelter customers from volatility as they don’t rely on one source.
EfW
Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational power company owned by the Swedish state. With operations across Europe, it expanded into the UK market four years ago.
Mr Reynolds told letsrecycle.com the waste and district heating sectors are natural partners. “We have signed a partnership agreement with Cory to collaborate to develop a heat network on the site of the Belvedere plant. We also have a national partnership with Viridor.”
Mr Reynolds pointed out that the UK sends more waste to landfill than any of its European colleagues, saying “there seems to be an icky idea about putting waste into an incinerator.”
“Energy from waste is completely underused in the UK,” he continued. “There’s nothing cheaper as a fuel source than rubbish, which doesn’t change in price. Pricing should be connected to cost of production, creating an incentive to look for cheaper sources.” He added that there’s an argument for EfW to be free.
“The reason heat networks are natural for EfW is because you need a steady baseload. An offtake from the EfW plant is used as a baseload for the customer demand, while peaks can be met with heat pumps,” he explained.
Infrastructure
When asked about the viability of changing the current infrastructure in properties into district heating networks, Mr Reynolds answered that “with regulation coming in, it will have to be changed anyway.”
This is where property owners “should engage early and communicate clearly.” In the case of the building already being occupied, “the most important is to minimise consumer disruption.”
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